Hopkins and Allen American Defender Revolver

Hopkins & Allen Manufacturing Co. of Norwich, Connecticut,
was a major manufacturer of rifles, shotguns, and inexpensive
cartridge handguns between 1868 and 1915. Hopkins & Allen
purchased the assets of the Bacon Manufacturing Company when that
firm ceased operations in 1868, a victim of declining government
arms purchases after the end of the Civil War. Bacon employees
Colonel Charles A. Converse and Samuel S. Hopkins, charged with
carrying out the sale of their company, found that the post-war
recession made the sale of the firm as difficult as it had been to
find buyers for Bacon firearms. Instead, they recruited Horace A.
Briggs, Bacon Manufacturing's owner, as well as Samuel Hopkins'
brother Charles, and Charles H. Allen as business partners.

After an investment of $1000 each, the new company, Hopkins
& Allen Manufacturing Co., began operations as a producer of
firearms, machinery, tools, and hardware. Officers included the
initial investors-stockholders, with Briggs serving as president,
Charles Hopkins as secretary, Converse as treasurer, and Samuel
Hopkins and Charles Allen, directors. Shortly after the
establishment of the company, Henry H. Hopkins, elder brother of
Charles and Samuel, became superintendent of Hopkins & Allen, a
position which he held for nearly a decade. As were those of Bacon
Manufacturing, Hopkins & Allen's production facilities were
located in Norwich. With a workforce of 30, H & A began to turn
out five-shot .31 caliber percussion revolvers that were
essentially identical to those previously manufactured by Bacon.
The firm was initially prohibited from manufacturing cartridge
revolvers using Rollin White's patent for bored-through cylinders,
on which Smith & Wesson held exclusive rights. After the
expiration of this patent, Hopkins & Allen began converting
their percussion revolvers to accept cartridge ammunition.

In addition, a line of spur-trigger cartridge revolvers in .22
rimfire and .32 rimfire calibers was introduced. Many of Hopkins
& Allen revolvers were sold to distributors under trade names
including Blue Jacket, Mountain Eagle, Ranger, and others. The
1870s brought a period of expansion for H & A. It also marked
the beginning of an association between Hopkins & Allen and
Merwin-Hulbert & Co. Merwin-Hulbert became H & A's sales
representative in 1871, and ties between the two companies were
strengthened in 1874, when Charles A. Converse elected to leave the
business, selling his shares to Merwin-Hulbert. By mid-decade, H
& A had begun to manufacture Merwin-Hulbert Automatic Revolvers
under the supervision of Joseph Merwin. In addition to overseeing
production, Merwin continued his experimentation with new designs
in a section of the Hopkins & Allen plant.

By the late 1870s, Hopkins & Allen's sales had grown to the
point that the company relocated to larger facilities in Norwich. H
& A's product line also expanded to include the XL Army, XL
Navy, and XL police models. These larger six-shot revolvers were
available in .44-40 centerfire, .44 rimfire, and .38 rimfire
calibers and featured barrel lengths of 4 ? to 7 ? inches. After
purchasing Bay State Arms Company in 1878, Hopkins & Allen
began production of falling block rifles and tip-up shotguns. The
acquisition of Bay State brought with it William H. Davenport's
patent for the production of high quality rifle barrels. William
Davenport, Bay State's founder, remained with Hopkins & Allen
until 1890, when he formed the W. H. Davenport Firearms Company. By
1907, Davenport's fortunes were in decline, and Hopkins & Allen
purchased this firm as well.

In 1896, Merwin, Hulbert & Co. failed, sending shockwaves
through H & A. The Norwich armsmaker suffered a $90,000 loss, a
small percentage of which was later recovered in bankruptcy
proceedings. In addition, Hopkins & Allen was left without an
outlet for sales and customer relations. The company struggled to
remain in business until 1898, when new management elected new
officers and reorganized the firm as the Hopkins & Allen Arms
Company of Norwich, Connecticut.

The Hopkins brothers and Charles Allen continued, but their
ownership stake had been reduced to 15 percent. In addition to
their line of pistols, rifles, and shotguns, H & A had also
manufactured tools and bicycles, but the firm's new management
dropped these products and focused solely on firearms production.
Less successful firearms, including some medium-frame rifles and
all Merwin-Hulbert pistols were dropped as well. By the turn of the
century, Hopkins & Allen was again profitable, and the
company's products included single-shot shotguns and rifles, as
well as a variety of revolvers. The company's return to
profitability was not uneventful.

In the early hours of February 4, 1900, a fire of undetermined
origin swept through the Hopkins & Allen factory, destroying
the factory and most of its contents, including machinery,
blueprints, records, parts, and completed firearms that had been
awaiting shipment. H & A management began to salvage what they
could while plans to rebuild the ravaged factory were prepared. By
stroke of luck or fate, the Forehand Firearms Company of Worcester,
Massachusetts was offered for sale by heirs of Sullivan Forehand,
and Hopkins & Allen agreed to purchase the firm.

In addition to its firearms line, Forehand's manufacturing
facilities included machinery and tools that were in excellent
condition. H & A's production was consolidated with that of
Forehand & Wadsworth at the latter's factory until the Hopkins
& Allen plant could be rebuilt. As sections of the new H &
A factory were completed, Forehand's machinery was transported from
Worcester to Norwich during the night and set up in time for the
next day's production to resume. In this way, the company was able
to remain in business until H & A's new facilities were
completed in 1902.

From its meager beginnings, Hopkins & Allen had grown from a
small shop with 30 employees to a major producer of firearms and
employer of 600 workers in a new multi-story factory. In a state
known for firearms production, H & A. ranked third behind Colt
and Winchester. Hopkins & Allen continued to manufacture a
variety of revolvers and small arms until 1915, when commercial
production ended and the company began to manufacture Mauser Model
1898 rifles for the government of Belgium. Rising costs forced the
company into bankruptcy in 1917, and the U.S. Army Ordnance
Department and Marlin Firearms took over H & A's factory for
the production of Browning Automatic Rifles. Marlin purchased the
assets of Hopkins & Allen in 1921.